Syria Watch

Syrian Revolution Digest – Monday 9 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Assad’s War!

He’s fighting against Al-Qaed’a, the Americans, the Israelis, the French, the Saudis, Alien invaders, zombies, vampires, shadows, windmills, voices in his mind… Indeed, Assad is already a legend in his own mind, and had his madness not resulted in so much bloodshed, his life story might have made good material for a mediocre high-school comedy. But the bloodshed, and the fact that the fate of millions is at stake and that a country is coming undone… to describe his war as tragic will be the understatement of the century.

Monday July 09, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 82. The Breakdown: 23 in Deir Ezzor, 18 in Idlib, 8 in Aleppo, 8 in Hama, 7 in Daraa, 7 in Homs and 6 in Damascus Suburbs.

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Abrams says he hopes the US is doing more for the opposition than it is claiming publicly, if only for the role the US will want to play in a post-Assad Syria. “If it’s the Saudis and the Qataris giving money and guns to the opposition, then it’s the Saudis and Qataris who are going to have influence when that opposition is in power,” he says, “and the US won’t have the influence it could’ve had.”

Turkey remains widely admired in the Middle East, but the excitement at Erdogan’s tough talk against Israel that made him so popular in the Arab world a couple of years ago has cooled. And for all their military might and economic muscle, the Turks now find themselves with almost no leverage in Damascus.

Gen Tlas’s defection is therefore significant for two reasons. First, although his absence will not in itself be a major blow, the signal it sends to other non-Alawite elites could be important. Other generals may not have Gen Tlas’s wealth and connections; some might still be tempted to leave while they can.

Video Highlights

The pounding of Tal Kalakh, Homs Province http://youtu.be/a0PlBSi0l_Q Sounds of warhttp://youtu.be/mcZe5ubGJoQ The town nearby of Ghonto gets pounded as wellhttp://youtu.be/jyUFWndey_g , http://youtu.be/jSaSjVdmBTs ,http://youtu.be/MwjwSQ54QTc Homes catch fire http://youtu.be/C8xCemFkmgw Rastanis also pounded http://youtu.be/pGsAKWwpup4 Some martyrshttp://youtu.be/u46TwHm1ueU

And of course, the pounding of Old Homs continues: Jouret Al-Shayahhttp://youtu.be/TShYJ6dLGGM , http://youtu.be/5OJJ9AYCKMs ,http://youtu.be/wB204DT-Of4 , http://youtu.be/TtBgMZRJWYY ,http://youtu.be/s3Fii88vGJY Al–Qarabis http://youtu.be/ld_EQFGpZVQ Tanks venture inhttp://youtu.be/fzgc5pAnt1c BMPs and armored vehicles patrol and pound the neighborhood http://youtu.be/OVT6BG1s_IU , http://youtu.be/K_aSU0eDw7AKhaldiyeh http://youtu.be/rppu_-9VTzc , http://youtu.be/QoJEtXTWhkA

The pounding of Basr Al-Harir http://youtu.be/oEbxtI4dFpY ,http://youtu.be/IW32lNdk2js the farmland around the town has been minded by pro-Assad militias, which led to the death of these two workers when their tractor hit a minehttp://youtu.be/VLjyFRunxCM

The pounding of Na’eemah, Daraa Province http://youtu.be/kUERJx4dkwY The pounding of Daraa City http://youtu.be/8uas4pDEMKY The pounding of Bosra, Daraa Provincehttp://youtu.be/maJrQP504Mg The pounding of Khirbet Ghazalehhttp://youtu.be/idCBbROUojc

The pounding of Ariha, Idlib http://youtu.be/TdX-hq2z5uI The pounding leaves many dead lying in the streets http://youtu.be/IKTOYCA6lk8 Some of today’s martyrshttp://youtu.be/5yM9T2C9nfo , http://youtu.be/DGXuvflya8Q The woundedhttp://youtu.be/w8XrkuVAqn4 , http://youtu.be/d6JLXV1XDn4

The pounding of Eizaz, Aleppo Province http://youtu.be/uvv_OC_epgg

Syrian Revolution Digest – Sunday 8 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

A Change To End All Change!

 

The International Community has long shifted its focus on Syria from supporting democratic transition to containing an impending “catastrophe,” to borrow Hillary Clinton’s term. But in both cases they remain unsure as to what needs to be done. That lingering uncertainty is exactly why catastrophe is fast becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

Saturday July 08, 2012

 

Today’s Death toll:  60. The Breakdown: 14 in Damascus Suburbs, 12 in Homs, 10 In Daraa, 7 in Deir Ezzor, 6 in Hama, 6 in Idlib and 5 in Aleppo.

 

Many towns and cities across the country came under heavy pounding today, including:

 

Karak, Yadoudeh, Sheikh Miskeen, Ghabaghib, Bosra, Maarabha, Izraa, Mseifrah, Ghariyeh and Daraa City (Daraa Province), Deir Jammal, Eizaz, Hreitan and Anadan(Aleppo Province), Deir Ezzor City and Mayadeen (Deir Ezzor Province), Homs city, Houla, Rastan, Qusayr, Tal Kalakh and Talbisseh (Homs Province), Douma, Jisreen, Diyabiyeh Misraba and Madaya (Damascus Suburbs), Hama City and Sahel Al-Ghab(Hama Province), Khan Shaikhoon (Idlib Province).

 

News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Op-Eds & Special Reports

 

 

A Change to End All Change

 

The Scenario: A national unity government is agreed under the presidency of a Sunni figurehead. Assad is out, but rather than going to Russia, he goes to Lattakia where he is the undisputed leader of an ethnically cleansed Alawite-majority enclave, and still in charge from behind the scenes of manipulating the national army and security apparatuses which remain for years to come under Alawite control. Kurdish enclaves are granted autonomy, and the rest of the country is held together by a Sunni Arab-majority government. FSA groups are gradually reintegrated into the regular army.

 

This it seems the current scenario being thrust upon us. There myriad problems with this scenario, but the most important one is the fact that events on the ground are moving too fast for it. This scenario requires a lot of micromanagement, but no party, domestic, regional or international is well-positioned or equipped to do it effectively. This is why Russia wants Iran to be onboard, but even their combined efforts cannot stand the test of unfolding realities.

 

People need to get real on Syria.

 

 

Assad’s recent interview with Germany’s ARD TV provides us with few revealing gems that should help dispel some illusions, if only international leaders and experts are willing to listen.

 

On the infamous Houla Massacre

 

When asked directly about the killing of more than 100 civilians in the Syrian village of Houla in May, he blamed it on gangs who “came in hundreds from outside the city.”

 

This is the second time Assad has had a chance to tell us about the identity of the victims. But neither in his speech that took place after the massacre nor in this interview did Assad claim that the victims of Houla were Alawites or recent convert to Shi’ism. As such, we must in all fairness dismiss such claims as blatantly false and stand by the initial reports and eyewitness accounts, supported by videos and satellite photography, that putt eh blame clearly on pro-Assad militias. The Massacre of Houla came as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign aimed at Sunni inhabitants in key locations that Assad and his supporters want to transform into an Alawite majority enclave as part of their Plan B in dealing with the current situation.

 

Reform vs. Freedom

 

Assad said a “majority of the people ask for reforms, political reforms (but) not freedom.”

 

This particular pearl of wisdom should be quoted in each standard textbook on political science, political philosophy and psychology. This is exactly the kind of wisdom for which Assad should be remembered for eternity. That’s the sum total of his heritage.

 

On Stepping Down

 

He stressed that he still had the overall support of Syria’s people,firmly ruling out stepping down. “The president shouldn’t run away from challenge and we have a national challenge now in Syria,” he said.

 

There it is then: Assad has no plans to step down voluntarily, and the Russians want him to be part of the political transition process. What does that mean really? Political solution without military muscle will not be possible in Syria. It’s as simple and plain as that.

 

On dialogue

 

While he said he was ready for political dialogue with the opposition, Assad left no doubt that he would fight those his government perceives as terrorists. “But as long as you have terrorism and as long as the dialogue didn’t work, you have to fight the terrorism. You cannot keep just making dialogue while they are killing your people and your army,” he said.

 

 

The ethnic cleansing of Syria has already begun, warns Dall’Oglio. But he insists that it is a project of the Assad government, not an objective of the Sunni-led guerrilla forces that have inspired such misgivings among Christians and other Syrian minorities, including Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

 

“The regime is already acting in the logic of division of the country,” says Dall’Oglio, citing rumors of contingency plans for an Alawite-run rump state carved from the Mediterranean shore to the Orontes River. “What do you do with most of the Sunni population? They have started to kill them, massively.”

 

 

BUSINESS INSIDER: HACKED STRATFOR EMAILS

 

The emails were published back in March, 2012, but their subject is still pretty much relevant.

 

“After a couple hours of talking, they said without saying that SOF teams (presumably from US, UK, France, Jordan, Turkey) are already on the ground focused on recce [i.e. reconnaissance] missions and training opposition forces… They have been told to prepare contingencies and be ready to act within 2-3 months, but they still stress that this is all being done as contingency planning, not as a move toward escalation.” They then discuss the option of an air campaign in Syria and what its objectives would be, saying the situation “makes Libya look like a piece of cake” because of the geography and Syria’s robust air defenses. “The main base they would use is Cyprus, hands down. Brits and French would fly out of there. They kept stressing how much is stored at Cyprus and how much recce comes out of there… There still seems to be a lot of confusion over what a military intervention involving an air campaign would be designed to achieve.”

 

 

“He says there are in Syria about 3,000 IRGC men and 2,000 HZ fighters, in addition to 300 Amal Movement men [i.e. Lebanese Resistance Detachments] and 200 [Syrian National Socialist Party] militiamen. The IRGC men are leading the pro-regime armed gangs. Syrian soldiers who refuse to open fire on protesters are killed by the Iranians and pro-Syrian Lebanese allies. The Iranians and Lebanese usually stand behind Syrian troops and kill Syrian soldiers immediately if they refuse to open fire. The 17 Syrian troops dumped in the Orontes River in Hama were killed by HZ men.”

 

 

The former director of the security firm Blackwater aided the Libyan opposition and was subsequently sent to contact Syrian rebels in Turkey at the request of a U.S. Government committee, according to published Stratfor emails and reported by Al-Akhbar English.

 

Video Highlights

 

This leaked video from a defector shows the aftermath of an attack that he filmed before defecting. It was an attack by a local resistance unit on a pro-Assad military facility that left 48 loyalists dead. The attack is said to have taken place on June 28 in Iz Ma’areen Village in Hama Province http://youtu.be/5qwhIpUeT2o

 

Local resistance groups in the town of Anadan, Aleppo Province, take possession of a cannon that was used by pro-Assad militias in pounding their townhttp://youtu.be/embeLcpC4Os

 

In Hreitan, Aleppo Province, an Islamic local resistance group clash with invading pro-Assad columns http://youtu.be/PWUwt5Yg85Y

 

In Deir Jammal, Aleppo Province, tanks http://youtu.be/Tc5j-CVdmEc and helicopter gunships http://youtu.be/ASaLyYYtpUI take part in the pounding.

 

Helicopter gunships take part in pounding Eizaz, Aleppo Province http://youtu.be/Kju-Q5s4ZOQ

 

The sounds of nighttime clashes in Abassid Square in downtown Damascus Cityhttp://youtu.be/9v5GCPNBdvs

 

The pounding of Homs City continues http://youtu.be/Oy2l10Zodjw ,http://youtu.be/HxTwXPl6DT8 So does the pounding of Houlahttp://youtu.be/TYTzchb4iAY and Talbisseh http://youtu.be/yc1nWGLvteY the pounding was aimed at stopping this funeral for a local martyr http://youtu.be/fCrDajbo2NQ

 

In Daraa, the pounding of Maaraba by helicopter gunships continuehttp://youtu.be/_IgUp4s0MX0 , http://youtu.be/_IgUp4s0MX0

 

Different neighborhoods and suburbs in Daraa City also comes under pounding, leaving many houses on fire http://youtu.be/6l4_EdmKz-s

 

The Damascene suburb of Madaya comes under pounding http://youtu.be/eCxIa5CRTsY ,http://youtu.be/2ZkKACaVv5c , http://youtu.be/BQN0PQnRma0

 

Syrian Revolution Digest – Thursday 5 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Who Let the Dogs Out!

 

So, Jihadi groups are now operating in Syria. But the question remains: who let the dogs out? And whose party are they crashing? We see Assad and his militias pounding towns clamoring for freedom and arresting pro-democracy activists, but we are yet to see any serious effort meant to target these groups. Assad and his militias are clearly uninterested in weeding out Jihadi groups at this stage, because they ultimately serve Assad’s cause. Al-Qaeda and the Shabbiha, who are nothing more than the Alawite equivalent of Al-Qaeda, are two instruments of strike and control in Assad’s arsenal.

 

Wednesday July 04, 2012

 

Today’s Death toll: 67. The Breakdown: the dead include 10 children and three women. 17 were killed in Idlib, 15 in Damascus (13 in Suburbs and 2 in City), 12 in Daraa, 7 in Aleppo, 6 in Homs, 6 in Deir Ezzor, 2 in Hama, 1 in Lattakia and 1 in Raqqah.

 

News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Op-Eds & Special Reports

 

 

 

 

 

Video Highlights

 

People from Homs City, including a local imam and local fighters give their opinion of the Cairo Conference and the vision regarding the nature of the future state of Syria that was agreed by opposition groups. The Imam believes that excluding those who are sacrificing their lives for the sake of the future state in Syria from the talks and making decisions without consulting them is a “redline” and is “wholly unacceptable.” As the Imam speaks, we can actually hear the pounding in the background. Fighter 1 says that “only the Syrian people, the revolutionaries and the martyrs” have the right to decide the nature of the future state in Syria. Fighter 2 says “only we on the inside have the legitimacy to determine the future state.” Fighter 3: “who are they to determine the shape of the future state” who allowed them to?… Let them do what they want, we will decide matters here.” A Local activist says that regime’s violent crackdown and opposition activities are all meant to impose a solution on all that will meet with popular approvalhttp://youtu.be/UDi7VpfqM3Q All interviewed want an Islamic State. Fighter 3 points to the black flag overhead with the inscription “There is no god but god, Muhammad is the Messenger of God” and says: this is our future flag. Local activist says he wants an Islamic State, but he wants people to decide on this, he believes that most people would vote for an Islamic State, and says that this is exactly what the opposition is afraid of. The views expressed here are those of the few fighters that remain in the city. Naturally the pounding of Homs City continues http://youtu.be/5IjTe1ywr2A , http://youtu.be/LOuhlowHXXM ,http://youtu.be/fcuuk4uWuEw

 

Ma’arrat Al-Nouman, Idlib Province, the victims of continuous shelling of the town by pro-Assad militias included this little girl http://youtu.be/PXRVp3CynRA More martyrshttp://youtu.be/JgJIDJ5zCNU , http://youtu.be/_lIAoENHhx4 ,http://youtu.be/xxgO9PBytLc Killed at home: a family of fourhttp://youtu.be/XlhXrmmLu1c

 

After intense battles, local fighter took control of the town of Salkeen, Idlib Province, arresting dozens of pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/4XNsvTDfHYI The plan is to use them to negotiate for the release of local activists. A local mother identified her son’s murders among the arrested. This is her reaction http://youtu.be/aSK68KaQi7I Local activists say that the two killers have not been harmed. It’s interesting to note that the pro-Assad militias in Salkeen are not Alawites, but members of a Sunni clan, Al-Jalkhi, with old ties to the regime’s security apparatus.

 

Meanwhile, tensions in the Kurdish-majority towns of Efrin and Kobani in Aleppo Province continue to rise as result of ongoing attempts by members of the PYD, the Syrian branch of the PKK, to intimidate their rival Kurdish groups, especially those who are pro-revolution, and establish their control over the towns. The last few weeks witnessed increasing acts of intimidation, including beatings and kidnappings, culminating in the murder of few activists belonging to the revolutionary movements. The situation finally attracted the attention of the local FSA group, the Salaheddine Brigade, whose membership is made up of Arab and Kurdish fighters. The leaders of the Brigade issues a statement calling for reconciliation, calling on PYD members to curb their activities, but saying that they don’t want to be involved in internecine Kurdish disputes http://youtu.be/lMAgtwv6xHA

 

In Daraa Province, local fighters carry out an attack on a security checkpoint near the town of Saida: The attack http://youtu.be/qkQoS_-dlcI The get-awayhttp://youtu.be/ghvslseTsNY The loot http://youtu.be/c1ZuvT5p3Ps In Nearby Mseifrah, local bury two dead brothers below the age of 10 http://youtu.be/taPrIUxeReA  ,http://youtu.be/ythzHyALitw

 

 

In Damascus Suburbs, Arbeen was pounded by a helicopter gunshiphttp://youtu.be/4to5dMlENa8 , http://youtu.be/H50vd4NVREo So does nearbyHamouriyeh http://youtu.be/TsWnQwi380E The nearby Douma has been transformed into a ghost town http://youtu.be/CLx5Bx7ELxQ , http://youtu.be/Ejc8yOSHhh0 ,http://youtu.be/E4YbndiY8h8

 

Syrian Revolution Digest – Tuesday 3 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Torture!

It’s not about what the international community wants any more than it is about what Assad wants. It’s about what we want and need as a people in order to regain and protect our basic freedoms. And what we want and need is for all decent people in the world to abide by their moral and legal obligations towards us. Intervention to support the pro-democracy revolutionaries in Syria, be it simple of complex, is a moral and legal obligation, and we will never stop rallying for it as it is an essential component of our fight against corruption and tyranny.

Tuesday July 03, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 71. The Breakdown: 14 in Deir Ezzor, 13 in Homs, 12 in Daraa, 13 in Damascus (12 in Suburbs and 1 in City), 10 in Aleppo, 5 in Hama, 3 in Idilb, and 1 in Raqqah.

A video showing the chaotic scene during one of the failed sessions in the opposition conference in Cairo http://youtu.be/ZtX-h_A-_wQ

In regard to the recently released report by Human Rights Watch on torture, this is a leaked video showing pro-Assad troops torturing a civilian http://youtu.be/6bW2AHfyw_oAll through the torture session security officers keep taunting their prisoner: “You want freedom?” “You want to kill the Aalwites?” “Say Assad is your God.”

News

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Let it be clear to all: Demanding international intervention is our moral and legal right as a people who belong to a country that is a member of the United Nations. When we call for international intervention to help put an end to Assad’s tyrannical and corrupt rule, we are not demanding anything that is outside the purview of international law and the legal obligations to which all states that are signatories of the UN Charter are subject. Asking the international community to abide by its moral and legal obligations towards us as a people is part and parcel of our struggle to free ourselves of oppression. We do not want to be ruled by a corrupt and oppressive government any more than we are willing to remain part of an oppressive and unfair international system. We want all those politicians who make decisions that impact our lives to be accountable to us, no matter where they happen to be. We want both the national and international institutions that were established in our nameand whose decisions have real impact on our way of life to be transparent, fair and accountable. This is what our revolution is about, and this is why our revolution will go on, until the tyranny of the Assad is no more and the international community has accepted to abide by its legal and moral obligations towards us.

Video Highlights

More high level defections: A colonel from the 1st Division http://youtu.be/-b8LLRRJm1Y A lieutenant from Air Force security http://youtu.be/U6FrgxVfOfc

Helicopter gunships taking part in pounding restive communities in Sahel Al-Ghab valley in Hama Province http://youtu.be/n03ShNXLNUI

The pounding of Khan Shaikhoon, Idlib Province http://youtu.be/QZQesHpm5kU

The pounding of Maarabah, Daraa Province http://youtu.be/39hMX_lU03k and Daraa City http://youtu.be/Au4wK6m9S2M

The horrible destruction of Jouret al-Shayah, Homs City http://youtu.be/a-AMgprTMIIThe pounding of Rastan continues http://youtu.be/DteiiKR3GSo

Syrian Network for Human Rights: The Massacres of Al-Hubait and Hameh

Al-Hubait Massacre| 30 June 2012 | 10 Children Killed in 10 Minutes

At 06:00 pm, the Syrian regime’s army helicopters fiercely attacked the town of Al-Hubait, located 77 kilometers from the center of the city of Idleb and near the city of Khan Shaikoun.  Local activists and the families of victims were interviewed, both noting that the helicopters used heavy bombs.  The regime’s army shelled the densely  populated city deliberately killing 13 victims and injuring 35 people.  In all, 10 children were killed within the first few minutes of the attack.  There is evidence that the regime deliberately and systematically targets civilians with these seemingly random shelling attacks.

**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**

Injured children from the regime attack are treated at the Kafr Zaita hospital in Al-Hubait.

Hameh Massacre | 26 June 2012 | 21 Victims in 2 Hours

At 02:30, Tuesday 26 June 2012, the Syrian regime’s army raided Al-Hameh city, located 12 kilometers to the west of the Syrian capital Damascus.  The force included: tanks, armoured vehicles, at least 15,000 infantry soldiers, and pro-regime’s Shabeeha militias (from the neighbouring areas of Jabal Al-Ward and Al-Buhouth Al-Ilmya).  This combined force shelled the city for two hours destroying numerous houses.  They harvested the lives of twenty one civilians in these two short hours.  Most of the victims were killed by army snipers.  All the victims were buried in the Al-Sadat cemetery.

**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**

Victims from the massacre on 26 of June in Al-Hameh.  The attack was perpetrated by the Syrian regime’s army aided by pro-regime Shabeeha militias.

 

All information and videos in this report provided by:

Syrian Network for Human Rights